Before the End
by Loveless1310
Summary: So what happens when Draco chooses the light side over the dark and is forced to spend the summer with Harry in the Black Residence by Dumbledores orders? Find out what happens. Not slash and for now it's rating will be mild
1. Chapter 1

So this is my prequal to "If Things Had Been Different" Well, at least, I plan it to be. It should end up that way anyway...

So far there's really no pairings but I intend it to be Harry/Hermione later on. Don't have plans for the others right now. I also don't know how long it will take me to get this story finished or how long it will be. I'm just playing it by ear right now.

Disclaimer: Yes, you caught me. I am Rowling. The owner of all of the magic world! The richest woman in Europe and future ruler of the world!... Never mind, that's only in my dreams...... Anyway, I really don't own these brilliant (and not so brilliant *coughGinnycough*) characters though I think the idea can be considered mine for now... All well, on with the show.

Oh and sorry for any typos/misspellings/whatever... Tell me if you find any please.

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Before the End

"You can _not_ be serious!" came an exasperated voice from the headmasters' office. "He's a Malfoy, a trainee-Death Eater, not to mention we've hated each other since our first year! How can you even think this would be a good idea?!" the voice continued for a few more minutes.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, letting the boy with glasses and unruly hair rant about all the reasons this was not a good idea. Then the boy stopped, out of breath and slightly red in the face.

Dumbledore didn't speak for a few more minutes after that but finally uttered a simple statement. "He has asked to be saved." It was enough and both the headmaster and boy knew nothing more needed to be said.

All the anger Harry had been feeling towards Dumbledore for making this decision without consulting him dissipated at those words and Harry felt exhausted.

"Fine." And Harry stood up and walked out of the headmasters' office.

A few minutes later, Harry was getting bombarded with questions. "What did Dumbledore want?" "Was it You-Know-Who related?" "Have they found him yet?" And so on and so fourth.

Harry uttered an almost unheard "Later" and went up to the dorms of Gryffindor tower, ready to sleep after the day he had had. It started early with double potions, where he, of course, got detention for the rest of the week. Then it was off to History of Magic, with Professor Bins trying once again to bore them to death. The only good things were DADA class and that before even half of Snapes' detention was done, Harry had been summoned by Dumbledore, which, looking back, had turned out to be a curse in disguise.

Harry just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of the week away. And it was only Tuesday!

The next morning didn't seem to hold any more relief. His friends still wanted to know what was going on and Harry had awoken with a huge head ache. He managed to hold off their questions until breakfast started.

"So, why did Dumbledore summon you last night?" Hermione asked as Ron started stuffing his face.

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table and saw his long time rival sitting alone near the end of the table. 'Maybe his friends don't approve of his choice.' Harry thought vaguely.

"Harry!"

He heard his name and noticed both Ron and Hermione were now looking at him, concern showing in their eyes.

"What?" He asked innocently, not realizing he'd been staring into space for the better part of five minutes.

"We've been asking you what Dumbledore wanted." Ron said through a mouth full of food.

"Oh." Harry replied. "Well, he wanted to talk to me about my living arrangements for this summer. I'll be staying at Order Headquarters instead of going back to the Dursleys'."

"That's great Harry!" Though there was something in his voice that told Hermione that wasn't all Dumbledore had said. "What else did he want?"

'Damn, leave it to Hermione to know there's more going on.' Harry thought inwardly. "Well, uhm… you see, there's going to, uhm, be a new house… guest." He said the word cautiously; like he wasn't sure it was right.

"Who is it going to be?" Hermione asked, now intrigued.

"Yeah mate, who's going to be staying with you at HQ? Anyone we know?" Ron said, but with his mouth full it came out as mumbles and slight gibberish.

Both Harry and Hermione looked at Ron, amusement and disgust raging war with both of them. Before either emotion could win, they heard a familiar drawl from behind them.

"So Potter, already telling them about your new prisoner?" Came Draco Malfoy's voice.

"Prisoner? You _asked _Dumbledore for help! And now I'll have to deal with you all summer, locked in that old house!" Harry was letting his anger take over.

"I didn't know the old geezer would lock me away in some "safe" house for the whole summer. And if I would have known I'd be locked there with you I would have rather taken the mark." Malfoy retorted coldly.

Through their little battle, Ron and Hermione had remained silent, piecing together what they were saying.

Ron couldn't take it any longer though. It had to be some sort of sick joke. "Malfoy?!?!" He pretty much shrieked, drawing the attention of the rest of the Great Hall that had not already been watching the two boys. "He's the new "house guest"?!?!"

Harry turned to Ron. He'd almost forgot that his best friends were still there. He bowed his head slightly. "Yes. As some trial or joke from Dumbledore, we will be forced to stay in the same house for the majority of the summer." He finished, sounding miserable.

"I have the utmost confidence in the both of you." Harry jumped as he heard Dumbledore's voice. He had walked up behind the group and placed a hand on both Harry's and Draco's shoulders. "I think you'll find you have much in common once you get past your arguing." With a smile he then turned and walked away.

"He's completely nutters." Draco said once Dumbledore was out of hearing range. Harry only nodded in agreement.

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Next chapter will be up whenever I have time/feel like updating it.


	2. Chapter 2

And I present, chapter 2!!! Sorry for any grammatical errors...

P.S. I still don't own Draco :'( or Harry I guess... But I might eventually...

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Before the End 2

The last several weeks of school were… interesting, I guess one could say. Harry would more likely describe it as his personal Hell. Ok, maybe that's going a little too far but Harry had had more enjoyable times at Hogwarts.

He had been forced to spend more time with Malfoy to prepare them for their summer living arrangements. They were made partners in the classes they shared, one of which being potions.

Harry hadn't expected Malfoy to be good at potions but it was a pleasant surprise that Malfoy and Hermione were always competing for the top of the class rank. What wasn't pleasant, or really a surprise was how bossy he was.

"Potter, you're stirring that wrong. You need to go counter clockwise then half turn in the other direction then straight across the cauldron to repeat the process. Do you understand?"

Harry was getting pretty fed up with Malfoy always ordering him around in potions. All the other classes he was manageable but potions he was a complete and utter pain.

"You know what Malfoy, since I seem to be doing such a bad job at stirring then maybe you should take over and I can start adding some of the ingredients." Harry said, trying to keep his temper under control.

"I'm not letting you near these ingredients Potter. Knowing you, the entire potion would be ruined if you even touched them."

Unbeknownst to either of the bickering boys was that the potion had been sitting on the burner, unstirred for five minutes and the contents were starting boil. Malfoy looked at the cauldron briefly for a moment then a look of terror formed on his face.

Harry caught the look and also turned to their sloshing potion. He didn't have any time to react as the potion exploded. Closing his eyes quickly, he awaited for the boiling liquid to burn his skin. When nothing happened he slowly opened his eyes to see a silver wall surrounding the cauldron.

Malfoy lowered his wand and the shield charm vanished, the potion falling to the ground neatly. He sighed in relief and put his wand away.

At that moment Snape made his way over to the two boys. "What did you do?" The red faced potions master asked through gritted teeth.

"Uh…" Harry had a blank look on his face, clearly not knowing why the potion had blown up on them.

Luckily Malfoy was there to step in. "The potions contents became to hot and were not getting mixed properly. This made them expand rapidly and break the cauldron." He supplied the answer as if he was reading it from a book.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for unnecessary endangerment of other students. And Potter, you have detention for the whole of next week as well. Good job for the protego charm Mr. Malfoy. Without it, both yourself and Mr. Potter would have been taking a trip to St. Mungos." With that statement he left the boys to clean up the mess.

The class soon ended and they went off to DADA, another class that they shared together. "Nice going Potter." Malfoy growled at him. "Your incompetence ruined the potion."

Harry was just about retaliate when Professor Alden walked beside them. "Good afternoon boys. We better hurry or we'll be late to class. I have a pretty interesting topic today."

Professor Alden was the new DADA teacher and he was, well, a little less sane then Lockhart. He was very outgoing and bubbly most of the time. You could pretty much get away with anything in his class. Well, not anything, as the boys are about to find out.

They were in the back of the room, still arguing about the destroyed potion. Their angry whispers were starting to attract attention from the other students. Even Professor Alden was starting to notice the disturbance as the boys voices raised with each word.

Before anyone could stop them or even knew what had happened, the boys were interlocked in a duel, their wands out and aimed at each other. Professor Alden had to step in fast before they destroyed his classroom with their fighting.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Malfoy! Stop it this instance!" Alden was usually a very laid back professor but when he got mad, there was no one scarier, not even McConnogal.

The boys stopped in mid spell and looked at their now rigid professor. "You both have detention for the rest of the week and I expect to never again see you both in such a manner. We are in the middle of a war; you should not be fighting each other. Now leave my classroom and don't come back until eight o'clock tonight." And with that, the two boys left the room and went to their respective houses.

The rest of the day was not as exciting as potions and DADA had been and the boys returned to Professor Alden's classroom at the assigned time.

He was waiting for them at the door and looked almost pleased to see them. He liked both of them. They were smart in their ways and would be perfect as a team if they could get past their differences. Draco was good at strategizing and thought things through thoroughly, while Harry on the other hand never had a plan and rushed into situations without thinking.

They would balance each other out perfectly, _if_ they could get past their stupid bickering. That is what Alden wanted to accomplish tonight.

"I'm glad you could make it here on time boys. Now come in, I have many things for you to do tonight." And with that, he swept the door closed behind them and put them to work.

After about two hours of them doing menial tasks that Alden had set up for them, their professor left the room for a moment, muttering something about forgetting a book in the library.

"This is so uncalled for." Malfoy complained, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. "I am a Malfoy and should not be put to this kind of work. I should have my fa-" He cut himself off at that point and fell silent once more.

Harry gave him a curious look but Draco refused to meet his eyes, instead staring intently at the books he was alphabetizing. "Why did you do it?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Do what Potter?" Malfoy asked, his voice sounding somewhat exhausted.

"You know what. Switch sides. Ask Dumbledore for help in the first place. I know you weren't lying because they gave you veriteserum. So why?"

"That, Potter, is really non of your business." Malfoy retorted.

"I think it is since we will be on the same side from now on and that's just weird. I always thought you'd be more willing to become a Death Eater like your father. Carry on the "family business" and the likes."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Why would I ever want to be like that maniacal, sadistic, old excuse for a father. He doesn't deserve the right to have some one look up to him and admire him." The hatred that Malfoy usually reserved for Harry was seeping into every word he spoke about Lucius and Harry knew that Malfoy was probably doing this for revenge.

"So, you're doing this because of Lucius? That doesn't seem like a very good reason…" Harry finally responded.

"Oh, and why are _you_ doing this? For your parents? The others that have fallen at the hands of a mad man? No matter what, even if you defeat Voldemort, there will always be some one to take his place. You can't save the world forever Potter. That will catch up to you eventually." They fell into silence for the rest of their detention.

The rest of the school year was much more anti-climactic as the boys had come to an unspoken agreement to not try kill each other. They found they could help each other on the subjects that neither where particularly good at.

Malfoy would subtly help Harry with potions and transfigurations while Harry would do the same for Malfoy in DADA and charms. Together, they found that they could figure out any spell and solve any problem in one way or another.

The rest of school flew by and Harry was once again sitting on the Hogwarts Express, heading back to London. He was happy that he'd be going to Grimmauld Place instead of back to the Dursleys for the summer. It was a bright thought until he remembered Draco Malfoy would be there as well.

The train ride seemed to be shorter then it usually was and in no time at all they were back at platform 9¾. Harry spotted Moody, Tonks, and what he suspected was other Order members.

"Hiya Harry! How were your last few months of school?" Tonks asked happily.

"Hi Tonks, hi Moody. School was… well I've had better times but it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be." He answered truthfully. "How have you guys been? Work getting harder now that everyone knows?"

Tonks opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by Moody. He muttered something to her that Harry couldn't hear. Tonks once again addressed Harry. "Well, work's been busy but we're getting through it. Now, lets find the young Malfoy and head out." She said, eyeing the crowed for Malfoy's white-blonde hair.

Before any of them could spot Malfoy, there came a loud shriek of terror and pain and the crowd became utter chaos.

Tonks looked around then handed something to Harry. "Find Malfoy then activate this port key by saying 'there's no place like home.' Got it Harry?" But before he could answer, Tonks and Moody had run towards the screams, leaving Harry and the other two Order members behind.

Wasting no time at all, Harry dashed through the crowd to find Malfoy, leaving the other Order members in his wake.

The crowd was in full blown panic and made it difficult for Harry to move around, even with is unusually small size. He needed to find Malfoy quickly and get to Grimmauld Place soon.

He was so busy trying to find Malfoy that he didn't notice when the hooded figure appeared in front of him. He was knocked to the ground as he ran into said figure.

"Bloody Hell." He said as he hit the ground. Hard. He looked up at the masked person and could just make out cold, steal eyes. The figure raised his wand and aimed it at Harry. Harry knew what was coming before the word was even uttered.

"Crucio!" The voice spat and Harry was gripped with pain as the masked man laughed.

The pain seemed to be over quickly and Harry almost thought he had died. Then he looked up to where the hooded man had been to see a new person standing there and the masked attacker sprawled out a few feet away.

In the exchange between Malfoy and Harry's attacker, the mask had slipped off his face to reveal pointed features and truly hateful eyes. Draco stood with his back to Harry and his wand pointed at his own father.

"Malfoy, we need to go. Now." Harry urged as he looked for the port key he dropped when he had fallen.

Malfoy still refused to move from his spot between Harry and Lucius, his wand still pointing at his father but shacking slightly in his grasp.

"Malfoy, come on!" Harry had just found the port key a few feet away from them. He grabbed onto Malfoy's free hand and started to pull a little. Malfoy wouldn't budge.

Luscious was smirking and made a move to get up only to be shot down with a silent Stupefy from Malfoy's wand.

"Malfoy, we need to get out of here! Now!" Harry tried again to pull the other boy along with him but to no avail. "Malfoy, we don't have time for this! Malfoy! Draco!" That finally got a movement out of the blonde and Harry was able to move the distance to the fallen port key.

He grabbed it and uttered the activation phrase just as Lucius had gotten up and aimed a curse at them. Harry felt the pull of his body as it went through space.

Harry would admit it, his landing hurt and if it hadn't have been for the fact that he landed on soft carpet, he probably would have cracked his head open.

He could see Malfoy a few feet away and could see the shacking hadn't stopped. If anything, it had worsened. "Malfoy?" Harry asked tentatively.

Malfoy jumped slightly then looked at Harry. "He was after me. To bring me home. He summoned a few Death Eaters and terrorized people all to bring me home." He walked out of the living room at that. He wasn't sure where he was off to but he needed to be alone.

Harry stared at the spot Malfoy had occupied a few seconds before and could not stop the small amount of guilt that was forming in the bottom of his heart.

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So, how was it? I think I'm making them ooc but all well. This is how I want Draco to be and Harry's just along for the ride really lol. Hope you guys enjoy chapter two^^ And if you press the little review button then you shall get a hug and virtual cookies... or virtual brownies if you wish


	3. Chapter 3

Yay chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it^^

Draco is hiding a secret from Harry. Find out what it is!

And, as always, I am sorry for any grammatical errors/misspellings/stuff like that.

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Before the End 3

It had been hours since Malfoy had walked into the depths of the house. It was much larger then Harry had imagined and he was almost scared he'd never find Malfoy.

An idea suddenly struck Harry. "Kreacher." He called out. There was crack and Harry heard Kreachers' mutterings. "Kreacher, can you lead me to Draco Malfoy? He's wondering around the house alone." Harry said.

Kreacher mumbled more but started to lead Harry through the halls of the Black manner.

After what seemed like forever of wondering around the ancient halls, Kreacher led Harry to a large set of double oak doors. Kreacher opened one of them to reveal a rather massive library.

Sitting in the middle of a pile of books sat Malfoy. He was flipping the pages every few seconds and made Harry wonder if he was actually reading the books or just looking for something.

Draco looked up at the sound of the door opening. He seemed startled and jumpy even if he knew it was safe here. He visibly relaxed when he saw it was just Harry and went back to his reading.

"Uh, Malfoy, what are you doing?" Harry asked, stepping slowly into the huge library.

"Reading Potter. What _does_ it look like?" Malfoy snapped, not very happy that his reading was being interrupted.

"Well… uhm… Have you been her the whole time?" he asked.

"Not the whole time but for a good part of it. How long has it been anyway?" Draco asked, still not looking up from his incessant page turning.

"We got here shortly after one this afternoon and now it's close to midnight so that's the better part of the day and night." He responded after checking his watch.

"Hmm, that's probably enough time but I should stay in here until at least two to make sure. Besides, I have much more reading to do."

Harry got the feeling that Malfoy was talking more to himself then to Harry but he couldn't help but be intrigued. "Enough time for what?"

Malfoy once more looked up at Harry. He looked as if he'd forgotten Harry was even in the room. "Oh, uhm." This was the first time Harry had seen Malfoy struggling to find the words. "Shouldn't you know?" He asked, slight confusion showing on his features.

Harry was seeing a new side of Malfoy that he didn't know existed. Malfoy didn't seem to be as emotionless as he usually was at school. His eyes even had a small spark of life in their silver depths. "What should I know?" He asked.

Malfoy brought his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. He stopped moving for a moment and Harry was almost worried over the fact that Malfoy had stopped breathing. Slowly, ever so slowly, Malfoy removed his hand from his face and started breathing again.

"I'm surprised the old coot didn't tell you." He said, very serious now. "He probably should have. I was wondering why you even agreed to this, despite my… "condition." Of course you wouldn't know." He said the last part bitterly.

Harry waited for Malfoy to continue and when he didn't Harry decided to prod a little. "Malfoy, what on earth are you talking about?" He asked. "What's wrong with you?"

Malfoy let out a horse laugh. "If you asked my father, he'd say that I'm diseased. Dumbledore says I'm "special." Neither of them are right, not really anyway. I'm… different is one word, cursed may be another. You weren't the first to survive the killing curse you know. My _beloved_ father tried it on me when I was born. No one really knows why but my body rejected the spell and almost blew up the room in the magic released from my body.

"It changed my psychology and made me have a bad temper with the power to match it. Because of it, I killed someone when I was five before they figured out not to make me really mad. That's what happened today. I needed to occupy my mind or I might have gone after my father, or worse, killed the closest living thing to me. You."

Harry didn't know what part to examine first. Malfoy seemed to know this and gave Harry time to think things through.

'Malfoy had the killing cursed used on him when he was a baby, by his father no less. He also killed some one when he was five. That's surprising… He could kill me if he got mad enough. What has Dumbledore done?' Harry was waging a war within himself when a thought stuck him.

"Wait, we've fought dozens of times, hundreds even, in the past six years. Why haven't I seen your true temper before? Why haven't you really tried to kill me before now?"

"Because, Potter, I was never mad when I was fighting with you. I actually enjoyed our disagreements and conflicts. They made life seem normal." Draco said returning to his book.

Harry was taken aback for a moment. "What?" He couldn't keep the bewilderment out of his tone. "How was us fighting normal? Or enjoyable for that matter?"

"Everyone in Slytherin knows about my anger and people from other houses know by instinct to stay away from me. I'm the Slytherin Ice Prince because I am excluded from most things. Fighting with you actually showed that I was living in this world and not in my own secluded one."

Harry hadn't expected this reply, though he hadn't really imagined what the reply should have sounded like, just, not this. 'I guess in a way, it is logical. I never enjoyed fighting with Malfoy but it did leave a sense of normalcy in my life. And it was always a constant. No matter what the other students thought of him, Malfoy would always hate and argue with him.'

"Well, that makes some amount of crazy sense." He finally admitted out loud. Malfoy just nodded in agreement.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts as his stomach ached in hunger. He hadn't eaten since the end of the year breakfast feast and seemed to be really hungry. He figured Draco was in the same boat but didn't want to admit it. He stepped out of the library and called Kreacher.

"Do you know if there's a kitchen in this part of the house or a shorter way back to the main one?" He asked.

Kreacher mumbled something before speaking up slightly. "Yes master, there's a kitchen at the end of this hallway on the right."

"Thanks Kreacher." Harry set off towards the kitchen.

He quickly took stock of all the kitchen had and, finding very little, had to conjure up stuff of his own. Even though he wasn't of age yet, the house allowed him to use magic without the Ministry knowing.

He had decided to make spaghetti because it was fairly quick and easy. He started warming the sauce as he waited for the water to boil. After about fifteen minutes, the spaghetti was done and he was slicing up some bread to eat with it.

He carried the two plates on a tray back to the library and saw that the pile of books around Malfoy had increased.

"Uhm…" Harry cleared his throat a little and Malfoy looked up at him. Confusion shone instantly as he spotted the food.

"Well, I was hungry and thought you might be as well. I didn't really know if you'd like spaghetti or not but it was quick and easy to make…" Harry stopped talking as Malfoy got up and walked toward him.

"You cook?" He asked in an intrigued voice. "Not sure if I would have expected that from the Golden Boy." Malfoy smirked slightly though it held no malice.

Harry smiled in reply and handed Malfoy a plate and utensils. This mild mannered Malfoy was much more approachable then the Ice Prince reigning over Hogwarts. Though in the back of Harry's mind, there was a warning to not let his guard down around the blond Slytherin.

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So, they are most defininately OOC but all well. And the whole Lucius used Avada on Draco thing just kinda came out of nowhere and I know it's complete crack but all well. I needed a reason for later plot things so bare with me.

Well I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I personally like this one and where I see it heading.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this story. I've actually had it written for a while I just didn't have the time to type it up. I know it's still probably pretty out there but still like where it's going.

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Chapter 4

They had eaten in relative silence and magically cleaned the dishes. It was now around one in the morning and Harry decided to call it a night. He got Kreacher to show him to his room and quickly went to sleep.

The next morning came and went with Harry still sound asleep. When he finally did awaken, it was mid-noon and the sun was shining brightly outside the window.

His stomach was aroused by the smell of something cooking in the large house. When he descended the stairs into the kitchen, wiping the sleep from his eyes, he was shocked at what he saw.

Malfoy stood in front of the oven, tending to something on the stove with one hand while the other commanded his wand. He was sending food flying through the room, all mixing in different ways and placing themselves in different containers and pans. The three different ovens seemed to be filled with cooking food already and all the smells were combining to form an intoxicating aroma.

On the table near Harry, there lay a few dozen cookies. He reached his hand out to take one. "Don't you dare touch those cookies Potter." Malfoy said, still not turning to face Harry.

"What are you doing Malfoy?" Harry asked, still amazed at what he was seeing.

"You know, you ask that a lot and the answer is usually quite obvious isn't it? I'm cooking." He finally turned to reveal him wearing a black apron with a silver dragon on it. Under the apron was a silk, forest green shirt and plain, dark blue jeans.

"Well, I can see that. _Why_ are you cooking? Nice clothes by the way."

Malfoy looked down at his clothes for an instance then returned to cooking. "They were comfortable. Anyway, Moody told me to make myself useful so I'm cooking for the Order." He had taken the sauce pan off the stove and set in on one of the counters. It seemed to hold some cooked chicken in it.

He set it on a platter with other cooked chicken then sent it to the dining room. Harry watched Malfoy work in complete and utter amazement. He didn't know Malfoy was capable of all this.

After a few more minutes, everything was cooked and heading out to the dining room. Well, all except the cookies.

Harry was just about to ask what all the food was for when he heard the doorbell ring. He waited to hear Mrs. Blacks' screams but they never came. As he went to the front door, he saw her picture was no longer on the wall.

Slightly confused, he opened the door and was smothered by bushy brown hair.  
"Geez, Hermione, don't suffocate him." Ron exclaimed from the door way. All the other Weasleys seemed to be grouped in front of the door.

"Hey Hermione. Glad you made it out of the station alright." Harry said as she released her death grip on him.

"Yeah, we made it out fine. I'm so glad you weren't hurt or even worse!" Hermione said.

"To bad Malfoy made it out. Why'd you have to drag him away? You could have just left him there and he'd probably-"

"Ron!" Both Harry and Hermione looked appalled. "You shouldn't say things like that! No one deserves to be handed over to that maniac, not even Malfoy." Hermione said fervently.

At this point, Malfoy had strolled into the hall, no apron was present this time. "You know, Weasel is right. I can't believe I said that." Malfoy sounded disgusted. "You should have left me. It'd probably be safer that way."

"Oh, yes, they would have taken you back and you would have begged for your life and been back with your precious "Dark Lord" again. You're no better then you cowardice old man." Ron had become quite red inn the face by this point.

Malfoy, who had almost turned to cold stone, glared daggers at the red haired, red faced boy standing in front of him. He said through clenched teeth, "Do not compare me to my _father_." The word spoken with more hatred then anything they'd ever said before. "He is worthless and deranged and a disgrace to the Malfoy line."

Harry could see the shiver that ran through Ron's body at Malfoy's tone and rigid, cold stance. He knew the results would not be good if things were to play out unchecked.

"Hey, where'd Mrs. Blacks' painting go?" Harry asked to break the silence.

Malfoy answered with a mechanical tone. "She was annoying and kept screeching at everyone so I asked her to leave and she did. Apparently because I'm a pureblood and a Malfoy she listened."

"Uhm… Ok…" Then something dawned on Harry. "Are they the reason for the feast?" He asked. He was sure that all the food he had seen was too much even for the Weasley family but maybe Malfoy knew of more people coming.

Malfoy was finally taken out of his silent battle with Ron to look at Harry. "Potter, you have perfect timing." He said and Harry saw that Malfoy had relaxed a little. "And yes, they are part of the reason. The others will get here soon." He then left the hall, heading deeper into the house.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. That could have been bad

Ron looked at Harry, unasked questions shining in his eyes. "I'll explain later." Harry said, not actually sure if he meant it.

Draco had been correct. The Weasley family was only among the first to show up. Shortly following them was Lupin, Tonks, Mad eye, and many other Oder members that Harry had befriended.

They feasted on the food Malfoy had prepared for them well into the early evening, laughing and catching up on the most recent events. It was a very enjoyable time but part of Harry's mind was occupied with a certain blond, wandering through the huge Black house.

It felt wrong that they were eating the food Malfoy had prepared while he walked around the cold house.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Ron whispered to him. "What was that back there?" Harry knew what he was talking about but decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"Well, for one thing, you and Malfoy almost seemed civil towards each other. What happened in only one day to change so much?"

"Uhm, it's a long story and part of it isn't mine so I don't think I should say anything but I should tell you, Malfoy is dangerous. I wouldn't make him to angry if I were you." Ron looked confused but before he could ask any more questions, he was interrupted by Molly Weasley standing up.

"It's getting late and we must be going. It was wonderful to see you all." Then she went off to hug various people. When she reached Harry, her tears were threatening to fall. "Be safe dear."

Harry smiled at her. "I will Mrs. Weasley, I promise."

When Mr. Weasley reached Harry he gripped the boys shoulder tightly. "I want you to be careful around Draco. There's something… not right about him." All Harry could do was nod. He knew the threat Malfoy posed but wasn't about to rat him out.

All the Weasley's headed towards the door. "See you guys later." Ron said.

Harry looked somewhat confused as Hermione did not follow them but stayed by his side. "Aren't you going with them?" He asked as the Weasley's left.

At this point, Malfoy had rejoined the group. "She's staying here Potter. Do they tell you nothing?" Came his drawling voice, almost back to its regular tone.

"How do you know Malfoy?" Hermione glared at him.

"There's very little that goes on that I'm not aware of Granger." He said coldly.

"So, you're staying here?" Harry asked, focusing on the only part of the conversation that was actually relevant.

"Yep." She beamed at him.

"Oi, boy." Moody barked from behind Draco.

Harry could see Malfoy tense for a moment then turn to face the elder wizard, who at one point, had turned him into a ferret.

"Yes professor?" He asked, not wanting to anger the crazy wizard.

"Get in here and clean up this food." He commanded and, to Harry's surprise, Malfoy actually went into the dining room and started to clean up the mess they had made.

Harry thought he would have been happy to watch Malfoy doing manual labor, but it left him with a hallow feeling inside. It almost seemed wrong that Malfoy was cleaning up the food he had prepared for them.

It reminded Harry of how the Dursleys had treated him for the better part of his life.

Hermione caught his eye and he turned to see her looking at him with concern in her eyes. "I'm fine." He answered before she could open her mouth. "I guess I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Well, I suppose none of us really did. After yesterday at the station, I don't think anyone really slept soundly."

"I guess not. You know, he saved my life yesterday." Harry said casually.

Hermione nodded, knowing that he meant Malfoy. "What happened?" She asked.

And so Harry started on his tale of the previous day from when he met Tonks and Moody to when they entered the Black residence.

"Ron doesn't like him being here with you. He doesn't trust Malfoy at all. I don't think even this story will change his mind."

"And you? How do you feel about all this?"

"I'm not sure, Harry. I mean he hasn't been the best person over the past five years why would he want to change sides? Especially now that Voldemort has come to power. It just doesn't seem right to me." Hermione's voice died away as she saw Malfoy standing in the door way. They were still standing in the hallway.

His eyes were cold but didn't look threatening or dangerous, just masking whatever he was feeling. "You really want to know Granger?" His voice calm but strained.

Hermione's only response was a small nod. Draco sighed and also nodded. He walked from the doorway and up the stairs to the room he had been given. Exchanging a look, Harry and Hermione followed.

Once in the room, Draco closed the door. Hermione repressed a gasp as he started to unbutton his shirt. She was about to protest but was stopped when something dark on the perfectly white skin caught her eyes.

It was enough to hold off her protest until he had completely removed his shirt. There, lying on his porcelain skin were many still healing bruises and abrasions. The scars from already healed cuts shown out brightly. There were signs of abuse going back years and continuing to present day.

In the middle of his chest, shining, almost proudly like the superman "S", was a jagged, lightning scare. It was much like Harry's only this one was tinged a slight emerald green.

Both Harry and Hermione gasped at the extent of injuries on the boys' body.

Hermione wanted to touch the scars and reached her hand out. Half way to his skin she recalled her self and let her hand fall to her side.

"This is the reason I want to join the Light. I will defy Lucius till my last breath, and maybe if I'm lucky, he will fall at my hands. It's not noble like you. It is for my own revenge but that will not make me any less loyal to this "cause". I will not betray the Order because I despise Lucius."

Hermione was almost in tears as Draco stopped talking. He buttoned up his shirt once more and made for the door. Before he could reach the door handle, he was stopped by two hands holding onto his arm.

He looked over to see Hermione was attached to the hands that gripped his arm. "I'm sorry." She whispered through unshed tears. "I didn't know and it was wrong of me to judge you." She then let go of his arm.

It would have taken a very observant person to see Draco's eyes soften the minuscule amount that they did. "Thank you Granger." He said sincerely as he exited the room.

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.......... I'm not really sure what else to say... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to have the next up soon. That one is pretty short so it shouldn't take long. Hopefully...


	5. Chapter 5

Ugh, it's soooooo short! It will hopefully be the shortest chapter in this story. I know the others I have written up are longer. I hope you guys like it even though it's so short.

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Before the End

"Hey, Draco." A sigh. "Draco!" Footsteps speeding up. "Malfoy, don't ignore me!"

It had been about a week since Draco had shown off his scars. Not much had changed. The three teens had decided to switch off on the cooking with Draco cooking breakfast, Harry making lunch, and Hermione finishing off with dinner. If it was a particularly big meal, all three would help.

Ron had visited once in that time but couldn't stay long, which was probably good since him and Draco had been at each others throats the whole time.

So now, here the were. Harry and Hermione were trying to talk to Draco, who had truly been trying to ignore them.

Finally, Harry caught Draco's arm. "Hey, I'm sorry. He doesn't understand. As far as he knows, you're a spoiled git and the son of a Death Eater."

"I don't care what that Weasel thinks of me but I swear, if he compares me to Lucius again I will strangle him." Draco said, his voice pure ice.

Harry almost shrank away from the blond statue in front of him but something in him told Harry to stand his ground and not let go of Draco.

This silent war was raged between them for a few minutes, both just glaring at each other. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime to Hermione, who had been watching the spectacle, both boys seceded.

Draco's stance relaxed considerably and Harry let go of him. "I'm better now." Draco said, sounding exhausted.

Harry smiled at Draco and could see the sides of his lips twitch, as if wanting to return the smile, yet not quite knowing if he should.

Hermione let out a small sigh of relief. "Let's go get some dinner." She said as she smiled and took both of their arms in her hands ad led them back to the kitchen.

Draco was going to protest but Harry shot him a look that clearly said "accept it and don't complain." So Draco let the muggle born drag him out of the dark hallway and back to the warm, lighted kitchen.

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It may not make to much sense but in my mind, Ron had just left(was forcefully dragged away by someone...) and Draco was off fuming after one of their little confrontations.

Anyway, if you have any questions, want to tell me how it is, or just want to say hi, I'll take reviews of all kinds. Flames welcome because I find them entertaining :D

Much love to all my readers


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